2014

AILA joined the American Immigration Council and other immigration, civil rights, and labor groups on an amicus brief in the case, State of Texas vs. United States, opposing the states’ request for a preliminary injunction against the Obama Administration’s new deferred action initiatives.

AILA President Leslie A. Holman expressed outrage over the opening of the Dilley family detention center noting that for families, “Moving from a make-shift prison to one run by the private prison industry brings no more humanity to an inhumane situation.”

AILA President Leslie Holman welcomed the President’s plans for administrative action, saying “The actions he has taken will indeed offer relief that takes into account the need to boost businesses, keep families together, and alleviate some of the daily tragedies our broken system engenders.”

As ICE announced the imminent closure of the Artesia, NM detention facility and the shift to new facilities in Texas, AILA Executive Director Crystal Williams stated, “All this does is move the shame of detaining children and their mothers to a different state without solving a single problem.”

As the Obama Administration announced a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, AILA President Leslie Holman noted, “This change will ease the pain of family separation and alleviate hardships that they suffer in a country still struggling to recover from devastating natural disaster.”

AILA President Leslie Holman responds to two recent announcements from the Obama Administration regarding the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program and a plan to allow young children from Central American countries to apply for refugee status from outside the U.S.

AILA President Leslie Holman reacts to confirmation that a massive family detention facility will open in Texas saying, “You can call it a ‘Family Residential Center’ but it is a prison. Dilley will be the largest immigration detention facility nationwide—all for the purpose of jailing families.”

In response to the Administration appealing bond decisions for some mothers and children released from Artesia, AILA President Leslie Holman stated, “I am utterly outraged by the latest tactics the Obama Administration has used to inflict needless misery on mothers and children seeking asylum.”

AILA President Leslie Holman reacts to the delay on executive action, saying “The attempt to deny protection to desperate refugees, and the delay on immigration action, make absolutely no fiscal or moral sense, and are built on questionable political assumptions.”

AILA’s President Leslie Holman discusses the U.S. government’s decision to refuse release on bond of Central American mothers and children. “They should be permitted to seek the comfort and stability of life outside a detention facility while they wait for a fair decision.”

Following a visit to the Artesia detention facility this week and observing severe due process violations, AILA calls for the suspension of all deportations from the facility until fundamental improvements can be made.

AILA’s President Leslie Holman describes two recently introduced bills relating to unaccompanied children that would “essentially gut the protections currently afforded children who may be trafficking victims or are fleeing untenable violence.”

AILA President Leslie Holman detailed some of AILA’s concerns with the administration’s funding request to Congress for additional resources to address the needs of unaccompanied children, noting that ”Some of the request is absolutely essential but much portends steps in the wrong direction.”

AILA President Leslie A. Holman reacted to reported plans to expedite removal of migrant children: “Rapid deportations without any meaningful hearing for children who are rightly afraid of the violence and turmoil from which they fled is wrong, and contradicts the fundamental values of this nation.”

AILA will award Jennifer Minear of Richmond, VA, with the 2014 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding service, over a period of years, in advancing the mission, development, and value of AILA for its members and the public it serves.

AILA will award Kathleen Campbell Walker of El Paso, TX, with the Founders Award, which is given from time to time to the person or entity having the most substantial impact on the field of immigration law or policy.

AILA will award Geoffrey Hoffman, of the University of Houston Immigration Clinic, Houston TX, with the 2014 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award for outstanding professor in the area of immigration law.

AILA President Leslie A. Holman responded to the Obama Administration’s announcement that the detention of families will increase saying, “Frankly, I’m surprised at this because I believe that our country’s values center on protecting families, and these particular families are so very vulnerable.”

AILA is hosting its 58th Annual Conference beginning today in Boston, MA. The conference is expecting more than 3,000 attorneys from around the world to flock to the Marriott Copley Place, Westin Copley Place, and Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

On the release of the 14th edition of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook, AILA Executive Director Crystal Williams noted, “Anyone who works in immigration law knows that Kurzban’s Sourcebook is an investment in your knowledge base that will pay dividends time and time again.”

On June 21, AILA and its partners will offer free immigration law services at the fourth annual Pro Bono Clinic to be held at the Boston Public Library; attorneys will make direct positive contributions to aspiring new citizens by helping to remove cost, access, language, and knowledge barriers.

AILA President Doug Stump on the creation of "justice AmeriCorps" to help children in immigration court proceedings noted that "Building on the strong tradition of Americorps service is an inspired choice as these people want to make a difference and these children desperately need their help."

As USCIS announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal process, AILA President Doug Stump noted, “These two-year grants of deferred action have already made a tremendous impact on the lives of so many young people and on the communities in which they live, study, and work.”

AILA President Doug Stump responded to CBP’s release of the PERF report and its Use of Force Policy Handbook saying, “This step toward greater transparency is a good start. If Secretary Johnson and Commissioner Kerlikowske are serious about real reform, CBP will continue and expand upon this path.”

AILA announces the release of AILA's Guide to U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization Law, an important new volume that offers an in-depth analysis of the laws and procedures governing acquisition of citizenship and the process for naturalization.

AILA President Doug Stump responded to news reports that President Obama has delayed the completion of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) review of deportation policy until August, by calling on Congress to “use this time to do what is right for our country” and pass immigration reform.

AILA President Doug Stump welcomed the news that EOIR has fixed the month-long computer system failure that had plagued the country’s immigration courts but called for funding “sufficient to ensure that this kind of systemic failure doesn’t happen again.”

AILA, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIP/NLG), are delighted to announce Danielle Alvarado has been named the recipient of the Michael Maggio Immigrants' Rights Summer Fellowship for 2014.

AILA President Doug Stump welcomed the DHS announcement proposing three new rules aimed at attracting and retaining highly skilled workers from around the world, but emphasized that “It remains incumbent on Congress to act to fix our laws so that these small measures are not necessary.”

AILA is proud to sponsor the eighth annual Citizenship Day on Saturday, April 26, 2014 to provide assistance to lawful permanent residents eligible for naturalization. This year, the effort will result in more than 50 naturalization clinics in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

AILA President Doug Stump commented on the H-1B visa cap reached today, saying that “it’s become increasingly clear that keeping the same cap we’ve had on these visas for more than ten years is absolutely the last thing we should be doing.”

In response to the House Judiciary Committee hearing, AILA President Doug Stump noted that “Instead of much of the rhetoric we heard at this hearing, our lawmakers should turn their attention to smart enforcement strategies as part of a comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system.”

AILA President Doug Stump: “The release of these standards is a much needed sign of movement. While the principles articulated are vague, and amenable to any number of meanings, they show some promise of a willingness to look at our existing system and work across the aisle to find ways to fix it.”

AILA applauds the renewed commitment to real immigration reform exemplified by President Obama in his State of the Union address. During his speech he focused on many topics but on immigration he was focused and concise, tying fixing our broken immigration system to economic growth.

AILA commends USCIS for clarifying its policy regarding immediate family members of U.S. citizens who are seeking a provisional unlawful presence waiver and who may have minor infractions on their record.

AILA announced that Dree K. Collopy, Partner, Benach Ragland, has signed on to author the 7th edition of AILA’s Asylum Primer. The Primer is the “go-to” asylum resource and the 7th edition will be released in late fall.